15th annual Israeli Apartheid Week 2019: Stop Arming Colonialism
University of Toronto, March 19th-27th, 2019
#IsraeliApartheidWeek #StopArmingColonialism
Schedule:
(Full descriptions further below.)
divest@utgsu.ca / saia.opirg.uoft@gmail.com
UofT Divest (facebook) / SAIA (facebook)
Overview:
(Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2178548098901797/)
First launched in Toronto in 2005, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. This year, IAW will take place in more than 150 cities across the globe. This year’s IAW is an international series of events that aims to raise awareness of Israel’s apartheid regime over the Palestinian people and build support for the growing global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. IAW 2019 at UofT is a collaborative effort of the UofT Graduate Student Union BDS Committee, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3902 BDS Committee, No One Is Illegal, UofT’s Ontario Public Interest Research Group, UofT’s Students Against Israeli Apartheid, UofT’s Independent Jewish Voices, Faculty for Palestine and the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid. JOIN US on March 19 to 27th, as we continue to build momentum on campus for the main BDS campaign at UofT that calls on the University of Toronto administration to divest from companies which are directly complicit in the violation of Palestinian human rights, and that profit from the illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the construction of the Apartheid Wall. These companies include Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Hewlett Packard -- all of which help maintain the Israeli apartheid military infrastructure.
This year’s theme, Stop Arming Colonialism, highlights that ending the arms trade, military aid and cooperation with Israel will undercut financial and military support for its regime of apartheid. It is also an important platform for building the campaign for a military embargo on Israel. The demand for a military embargo on Israel has been reinforced by Israel’s recent violent repression of the Great March of Return in Gaza. Israel is able to maintain its illegal occupation and apartheid regime over Palestinians partly due to its arms sales and the military support it receives from governments across the world. The United States alone is the single largest supplier of arms and military aid to Israel, followed by several European states. These directly sustain Israel’s oppression and human rights violations. In the Global South, Israel has been known to supply weapons to genocidal regimes in Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and elsewhere.
This year’s program includes four events which explore these themes: March 19th features Dr. Ruba Salih from SOAS University of London on “De-colonial and intersectional alliances in the Palestinian struggle for justice.”; March 20th will be a Film Screening of A Stone's Throw from Prison, March 21st features Dr. Nahla Abdo from Carleton University on “Palestine in Our Hearts, Palestine a Thorn in the Flesh of Imperialism;” and March 27th is Wala3at Indigenous Interactive Musical Dance Performance for our annual cultural program featuring Palestinian-Indigenous art, music, and dance sessions that will be opened by Sto: Loh Elder Lee Maracle.
We thank our generous sponsors and endorsers. IAW 2019 would not be possible without the support of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1281 and the Association of Part-time Students Association (APUS), CUPE 3903 (UofT), We Are UofT 89.5 FM, Salaam Canada, No More Silence, The Socialist Project, OPIRG UofT, Upping the Anti, Jamhoor, Canadian Friends of Sabeel and Actions4Palestine (A4P).
Please check our Facebook for an updated list of our endorsers.
(Full descriptions further below.)
- Tuesday, March 19, @ 6:30pm - Dr. Ruba Salih: De-colonial and intersectional alliances in the Palestinian struggle for justice with No One Is Illegal @ University College, room 144
- Thursday, March 21, @ 6:30pm - Dr. Nahla Abdo: Palestine in Our Hearts, Palestine a Thorn in the Flesh of Imperialism @ University College, room 52
- Tuesday, March 26, @ 7pm - Film Screening: A Stone's Throw from Prison @ Lash Miller building, room 158
- Wednesday, March 27, @ 6:30pm - Wala3at Indigenous Interactive Musical Dance Performance opened by Sto: Loh Elder Lee Maracle @ Multi-Faith Centre, Main Activity Hall
divest@utgsu.ca / saia.opirg.uoft@gmail.com
UofT Divest (facebook) / SAIA (facebook)
Overview:
(Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2178548098901797/)
First launched in Toronto in 2005, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. This year, IAW will take place in more than 150 cities across the globe. This year’s IAW is an international series of events that aims to raise awareness of Israel’s apartheid regime over the Palestinian people and build support for the growing global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. IAW 2019 at UofT is a collaborative effort of the UofT Graduate Student Union BDS Committee, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3902 BDS Committee, No One Is Illegal, UofT’s Ontario Public Interest Research Group, UofT’s Students Against Israeli Apartheid, UofT’s Independent Jewish Voices, Faculty for Palestine and the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid. JOIN US on March 19 to 27th, as we continue to build momentum on campus for the main BDS campaign at UofT that calls on the University of Toronto administration to divest from companies which are directly complicit in the violation of Palestinian human rights, and that profit from the illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the construction of the Apartheid Wall. These companies include Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Hewlett Packard -- all of which help maintain the Israeli apartheid military infrastructure.
This year’s theme, Stop Arming Colonialism, highlights that ending the arms trade, military aid and cooperation with Israel will undercut financial and military support for its regime of apartheid. It is also an important platform for building the campaign for a military embargo on Israel. The demand for a military embargo on Israel has been reinforced by Israel’s recent violent repression of the Great March of Return in Gaza. Israel is able to maintain its illegal occupation and apartheid regime over Palestinians partly due to its arms sales and the military support it receives from governments across the world. The United States alone is the single largest supplier of arms and military aid to Israel, followed by several European states. These directly sustain Israel’s oppression and human rights violations. In the Global South, Israel has been known to supply weapons to genocidal regimes in Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and elsewhere.
This year’s program includes four events which explore these themes: March 19th features Dr. Ruba Salih from SOAS University of London on “De-colonial and intersectional alliances in the Palestinian struggle for justice.”; March 20th will be a Film Screening of A Stone's Throw from Prison, March 21st features Dr. Nahla Abdo from Carleton University on “Palestine in Our Hearts, Palestine a Thorn in the Flesh of Imperialism;” and March 27th is Wala3at Indigenous Interactive Musical Dance Performance for our annual cultural program featuring Palestinian-Indigenous art, music, and dance sessions that will be opened by Sto: Loh Elder Lee Maracle.
We thank our generous sponsors and endorsers. IAW 2019 would not be possible without the support of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1281 and the Association of Part-time Students Association (APUS), CUPE 3903 (UofT), We Are UofT 89.5 FM, Salaam Canada, No More Silence, The Socialist Project, OPIRG UofT, Upping the Anti, Jamhoor, Canadian Friends of Sabeel and Actions4Palestine (A4P).
Please check our Facebook for an updated list of our endorsers.
Tuesday,
|
De-colonial and intersectional alliances in the Palestinian struggle for justice
|
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/840425602964421/
In this talk, Dr. Ruba Salih from SOAS University London, will explore the ways in which the Palestinian quest for self-determination has shifted over the years. From a territorial and nationalist struggle, the Palestine question has today become an idiom for global and transnational justice struggles across the world. Settler-colonialism in Palestine is part of a wider web of interconnected forms of oppression, control, destitution and violence that are knotted together globally and articulated in local assemblages. Refugees and diasporic Palestinians play crucial roles in this transnational reconfiguration of the Palestinian struggle, reinforcing its anti-colonial and de-colonial frameworks.
Ruba Salih has a PhD in social anthropology. Her research interests and writing cover transnational migration and gender across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, the Palestine question and refugees.She is an elected member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and a founder of its sub-committee for academic freedom in the Arab region. Her recent projects include a two years Gerda Henkel grant to complete a research on Palestinian refugees’ political cultures and imaginaries of rights (2013-2015) (with Sophie Richter-Devroe).She is currently also leading the SOAS team together with Prof Lynn Welchman (Law) and Dr. Elena Zambelli in the transnational collaborative research project Power2youth. The project explores the dynamics of youth exclusion and the prospects for youth transformative agency through an interdisciplinary and gender-sensitive approach in the South East Mediterranean region. Recently, she has published, Palestinian Refugees. The politics of exile and the politics of return (with Sophie Richter-Devroe, Cambridge University Press), and a special issue of the journal South Atlantic Quarterly on “Palestine and Self-determination beyond National Frames: Emerging Politics, Cultures, and Claims,” published in 2018. She is also editing with Andrea Cornwall a collection titled, Female Body Politics. Ownership Coercion and Agency in Muslim Societies and Beyond, to be published by I.B.Tauris in 2018. apartheid that could provide a foundation for building deeper connections between struggles in Palestine, South Africa, the US and beyond.
In this talk, Dr. Ruba Salih from SOAS University London, will explore the ways in which the Palestinian quest for self-determination has shifted over the years. From a territorial and nationalist struggle, the Palestine question has today become an idiom for global and transnational justice struggles across the world. Settler-colonialism in Palestine is part of a wider web of interconnected forms of oppression, control, destitution and violence that are knotted together globally and articulated in local assemblages. Refugees and diasporic Palestinians play crucial roles in this transnational reconfiguration of the Palestinian struggle, reinforcing its anti-colonial and de-colonial frameworks.
Ruba Salih has a PhD in social anthropology. Her research interests and writing cover transnational migration and gender across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, the Palestine question and refugees.She is an elected member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences and a founder of its sub-committee for academic freedom in the Arab region. Her recent projects include a two years Gerda Henkel grant to complete a research on Palestinian refugees’ political cultures and imaginaries of rights (2013-2015) (with Sophie Richter-Devroe).She is currently also leading the SOAS team together with Prof Lynn Welchman (Law) and Dr. Elena Zambelli in the transnational collaborative research project Power2youth. The project explores the dynamics of youth exclusion and the prospects for youth transformative agency through an interdisciplinary and gender-sensitive approach in the South East Mediterranean region. Recently, she has published, Palestinian Refugees. The politics of exile and the politics of return (with Sophie Richter-Devroe, Cambridge University Press), and a special issue of the journal South Atlantic Quarterly on “Palestine and Self-determination beyond National Frames: Emerging Politics, Cultures, and Claims,” published in 2018. She is also editing with Andrea Cornwall a collection titled, Female Body Politics. Ownership Coercion and Agency in Muslim Societies and Beyond, to be published by I.B.Tauris in 2018. apartheid that could provide a foundation for building deeper connections between struggles in Palestine, South Africa, the US and beyond.
Thursday, March 21th
|
Palestine in Our Hearts, Palestine a Thorn in the Flesh of Imperialism
|
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/398202580971760/
We are currently living in an unprecedented stage of capitalist imperialism. This is despite, or in fact, because of the decline of the unipolar world power (the US) and the rise of a multipolar one. The monstrosity of this imperialist stage has crossed all human, ethical and international legal conventions. In addition to targeting Venezuela, Palestine is at the core of imperialist intervention in the Middle East, as Dr. Nahla Abdo’s keynote address will explore.
Dr. Nahla Abdo is an Arab Canadian feminist, political activist and Professor of Sociology at Carleton University. She has extensive publications on anti-colonial, anti-imperialist feminism, racism, nationalism and the Settler Colonial State, with specialization in the Middle East. Among her recent publications: An Oral History of the Palestinians during the Nakba. (2018- with Nur Masalha); Captive Revolution: Palestinian Women’s Anti-Colonial Struggle (2014) – this book received the Times Higher Education Book of 2014; Women in Israel: Race, Gender, and Citizenship (2011); Violence in the Name of Honour: Theoretical and Political Challenges, (2004 – with Shahrzad Mojab) and, Women and the Politics of Military Confrontation: Palestinian and Israeli Gendered Narratives of Dislocation, (with Ronit Lentin 2002).
We are currently living in an unprecedented stage of capitalist imperialism. This is despite, or in fact, because of the decline of the unipolar world power (the US) and the rise of a multipolar one. The monstrosity of this imperialist stage has crossed all human, ethical and international legal conventions. In addition to targeting Venezuela, Palestine is at the core of imperialist intervention in the Middle East, as Dr. Nahla Abdo’s keynote address will explore.
Dr. Nahla Abdo is an Arab Canadian feminist, political activist and Professor of Sociology at Carleton University. She has extensive publications on anti-colonial, anti-imperialist feminism, racism, nationalism and the Settler Colonial State, with specialization in the Middle East. Among her recent publications: An Oral History of the Palestinians during the Nakba. (2018- with Nur Masalha); Captive Revolution: Palestinian Women’s Anti-Colonial Struggle (2014) – this book received the Times Higher Education Book of 2014; Women in Israel: Race, Gender, and Citizenship (2011); Violence in the Name of Honour: Theoretical and Political Challenges, (2004 – with Shahrzad Mojab) and, Women and the Politics of Military Confrontation: Palestinian and Israeli Gendered Narratives of Dislocation, (with Ronit Lentin 2002).
Monday, March 26th
|
"A Stone's Throw from Prison": Film Screening followed by Q&A
|
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/379950416179231/
65 mins, Raquel Castells
Documentary, 2016 - Spain, Palestine
Watch the trailer
Between 2010 and 2014, nearly 3,000 Palestinian children were arrested by Israeli forces for reasons like throwing stones. Many are kept in solitary confinement for days, shackled and subjected to intimidating questioning without the presence of their parents or a lawyer. Mohammad Zedani, 14, has been arrested six times. The experience has left him traumatised: he struggles to sleep and displays symptoms of PTSD. The film tells his story, along with those of Rami and Ahmed, three out of thousands of children affected by the occupation. We also hear from those working to stop the abuses.
65 mins, Raquel Castells
Documentary, 2016 - Spain, Palestine
Watch the trailer
Between 2010 and 2014, nearly 3,000 Palestinian children were arrested by Israeli forces for reasons like throwing stones. Many are kept in solitary confinement for days, shackled and subjected to intimidating questioning without the presence of their parents or a lawyer. Mohammad Zedani, 14, has been arrested six times. The experience has left him traumatised: he struggles to sleep and displays symptoms of PTSD. The film tells his story, along with those of Rami and Ahmed, three out of thousands of children affected by the occupation. We also hear from those working to stop the abuses.
Thursday,
|
Wala3at Indigenous Interactive Musical Dance Performance
|
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/422162235186056/
Admission: $5-10 sliding scale, PWYC no one turned away. Additional funds will be donated to the Land Defence Coalition and the Unist'ot'en Camp.
Cultural program featuring Palestinian-Indigenous art, music, and dance sessions
"Wala3at" is a series of Palestinian-Indigenous art, music, and dabke dance sessions geared to creating a shared, transformative space for folks to build and share their histories of pain, joy, rage, and resistance. Watch their previous sessions here: https://vimeo.com/291296011
We are honoured to host Sto: Loh Elder Lee Maracle, who will be opening the cultural program for IAW 2019. Lee Maracle is the author of a number of award winning and critically acclaimed literary works including: Sojourner’s and Sundogs [collected work of novel and short stories], Polestar/Raincoast, Ravensong [novel], Bobbi Lee[autobiographical novel], Daughters Are Forever, [novel] Will’s Garden [young adult novel], Bent Box [poetry], I Am Woman, Memory Serves, Celia’s Song, Talking to the Diaspora [poetry] and My Conversations with Canadians (non-fiction). She is the co-editor of a number of anthologies including the award winning publication, My Home As I Remember [anthology]. She is also co-editor of Telling It: Women and Language across Culture [conference proceedings]. Ms. Maracle is published in anthologies and scholarly journals worldwide. Maracle was born in North Vancouver and is a member of the Sto: Loh nation. The mother of four and grandmother of seven Maracle is currently an instructor at the University of Toronto. She is also the Traditional Teacher in Residence for First Nations House at U of T. In 2009, Maracle received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from St. Thomas University. Maracle is a Senior Fellow at Massey College, U of T. Maracle recently received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her work promoting writing among Aboriginal Youth. Maracle has served as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, and the University of Western Washington. Maracle has also received 3 teaching awards. Her work in progress includes Hope Matters and Mink Returns to Toronto. Maracle is the recipient of the 2014 Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the 2016 recipient of the Ann Green Award and the Queen is Diamond Jubilee Medal and awarded the Officer of the Order of Canada.
Artists & Collaborators:
Ahmed Hamad - Filmmaker, Dabke Instructor, Performer and Director of Dabke is Life
Christy B. - Artist, Cultural Worker, Storyteller and Co-Director with The Aadizookaan
Sacramento Knoxx - Musician/Band, Cultural Worker, motion picture artist and Creative Director with The Aadizookaan.
Website: http://www.interculturalmusic.com/wala3at
Ahmed Hamad is a Falasteeni-blooded filmmaker and Dabke instructor, his vision lies at the intersection of organizing, folk dance and cinema. Ahmed is inspired by the heart beat and the wind. His work is rooted in cultural resistance and preservation. His roots go back to the farms and streets of Beit Hanoun, a village located on the northeast borders of the Gaza Strip. The intention behind Ahmed's work is to unite, transform and be in community with the people.
Giizhigad [Christy B.] is an Anishinaabe Artist & cultural worker rooted in Southwest Detroit. Giizhigad inspires through the art of storytelling in its infinite forms. Stories hold the true essence of people and act as the woven thread interconnecting humanity. She currently builds creatively and collaboratively with The Aadizookaan in the facets of music, dance, & mixed media design as a part of dynamic storytelling installations alchemizing the worlds we want to live in. These aadizookanan (Sacred stories) transcend time and space by being rooted in both traditional and contemporary indigenous based knowledge systems. Her creative practice extends to design/visual arts as well as photography and film.
Sacramento Knoxx is a hardworking interdisciplinary artist creating music and film, with strong Detroit roots. He produces a sound of electronic, indigenous, ghettotech, afro-latino, hip hop, soul, rhythm & blues. Knoxx is musically involved in all aspects, playing, curating and producing sound while making visuals or images to further capture emotions and ideas that work with the music intentionally. With his versatile background with different forms of music, it allows him to blend traditional and contemporary styles, while constantly trying out new frameworks to create music and film that work together rather than separate practices.
Knoxx has built community concerts and workshops that engaged many audiences in public spaces all around the city of Detroit. Currently he travels nationally and internationally sharing interactive music performances, blending captured moments in life & creative imagery through large projection motion graphics. Building from raw experience and grit his works send vibrations to help assemble the worlds we want to live in. In addition to creating these dynamic storytelling installations, he creates documentary film and music video encapsulating the experience of struggle and celebration of diverse layers of communities.
Admission: $5-10 sliding scale, PWYC no one turned away. Additional funds will be donated to the Land Defence Coalition and the Unist'ot'en Camp.
Cultural program featuring Palestinian-Indigenous art, music, and dance sessions
"Wala3at" is a series of Palestinian-Indigenous art, music, and dabke dance sessions geared to creating a shared, transformative space for folks to build and share their histories of pain, joy, rage, and resistance. Watch their previous sessions here: https://vimeo.com/291296011
We are honoured to host Sto: Loh Elder Lee Maracle, who will be opening the cultural program for IAW 2019. Lee Maracle is the author of a number of award winning and critically acclaimed literary works including: Sojourner’s and Sundogs [collected work of novel and short stories], Polestar/Raincoast, Ravensong [novel], Bobbi Lee[autobiographical novel], Daughters Are Forever, [novel] Will’s Garden [young adult novel], Bent Box [poetry], I Am Woman, Memory Serves, Celia’s Song, Talking to the Diaspora [poetry] and My Conversations with Canadians (non-fiction). She is the co-editor of a number of anthologies including the award winning publication, My Home As I Remember [anthology]. She is also co-editor of Telling It: Women and Language across Culture [conference proceedings]. Ms. Maracle is published in anthologies and scholarly journals worldwide. Maracle was born in North Vancouver and is a member of the Sto: Loh nation. The mother of four and grandmother of seven Maracle is currently an instructor at the University of Toronto. She is also the Traditional Teacher in Residence for First Nations House at U of T. In 2009, Maracle received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from St. Thomas University. Maracle is a Senior Fellow at Massey College, U of T. Maracle recently received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her work promoting writing among Aboriginal Youth. Maracle has served as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, and the University of Western Washington. Maracle has also received 3 teaching awards. Her work in progress includes Hope Matters and Mink Returns to Toronto. Maracle is the recipient of the 2014 Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the 2016 recipient of the Ann Green Award and the Queen is Diamond Jubilee Medal and awarded the Officer of the Order of Canada.
Artists & Collaborators:
Ahmed Hamad - Filmmaker, Dabke Instructor, Performer and Director of Dabke is Life
Christy B. - Artist, Cultural Worker, Storyteller and Co-Director with The Aadizookaan
Sacramento Knoxx - Musician/Band, Cultural Worker, motion picture artist and Creative Director with The Aadizookaan.
Website: http://www.interculturalmusic.com/wala3at
Ahmed Hamad is a Falasteeni-blooded filmmaker and Dabke instructor, his vision lies at the intersection of organizing, folk dance and cinema. Ahmed is inspired by the heart beat and the wind. His work is rooted in cultural resistance and preservation. His roots go back to the farms and streets of Beit Hanoun, a village located on the northeast borders of the Gaza Strip. The intention behind Ahmed's work is to unite, transform and be in community with the people.
Giizhigad [Christy B.] is an Anishinaabe Artist & cultural worker rooted in Southwest Detroit. Giizhigad inspires through the art of storytelling in its infinite forms. Stories hold the true essence of people and act as the woven thread interconnecting humanity. She currently builds creatively and collaboratively with The Aadizookaan in the facets of music, dance, & mixed media design as a part of dynamic storytelling installations alchemizing the worlds we want to live in. These aadizookanan (Sacred stories) transcend time and space by being rooted in both traditional and contemporary indigenous based knowledge systems. Her creative practice extends to design/visual arts as well as photography and film.
Sacramento Knoxx is a hardworking interdisciplinary artist creating music and film, with strong Detroit roots. He produces a sound of electronic, indigenous, ghettotech, afro-latino, hip hop, soul, rhythm & blues. Knoxx is musically involved in all aspects, playing, curating and producing sound while making visuals or images to further capture emotions and ideas that work with the music intentionally. With his versatile background with different forms of music, it allows him to blend traditional and contemporary styles, while constantly trying out new frameworks to create music and film that work together rather than separate practices.
Knoxx has built community concerts and workshops that engaged many audiences in public spaces all around the city of Detroit. Currently he travels nationally and internationally sharing interactive music performances, blending captured moments in life & creative imagery through large projection motion graphics. Building from raw experience and grit his works send vibrations to help assemble the worlds we want to live in. In addition to creating these dynamic storytelling installations, he creates documentary film and music video encapsulating the experience of struggle and celebration of diverse layers of communities.